Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition
Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition, also known V5, is the recent version of Vampire: The Masquerade and was released in 2018. The system was co-created by Martin Ericsson (lead storyteller), Karim Muammar (playtest designer and editor-in-chief), and Kenneth Hite (lead designer). It contains new and overhauled rules, and has updated the metaplot to the year 2018 in the World of Darkness. Changes to the Metaplot Federal agencies in multiple countries have realized that vampires exist and the power they have over global finance and politics. They haven't let the public or even high ranking non-agency officals in on this information, choosing to form a new unit with the Society of Leopold. That unit, under name named FIRSTLIGHT, was established to exterminate the "blankbody" population. It is also known as the Second Inquisition. * The first casualty of the SI, SchreckNet has been dismantled after being discovered by the National Security Agency. The NSA were unable to capture a complete archive of it before engineers from Clan Nosferatu realized what had happened and purged the database under orders from the Camarilla, but they did manage to retrieve a cache of data on Clan Giovanni that had been deliberately left for them to find. * The need for dismantling SchreckNet on such short notice has also inspired the Camarilla to adopt an official policy of technophobia, no longer allowing any of its members to use any form of electronic communication. * The Second Inquisition's first direct, major act against Kindred society was destroying Clan Tremere's Vienna Chantry, the center of the Clan, with a devastating drone attack, under the false flag of a terrorist attack. The loss of important unlife caused the blood bond holding together the entire international hierarchy of the Pyramid to recoil and collapse. Now unable to form blood bonds with fellow Kindred at all, the clan has now split into four houses: House Tremere (now led by Karl Schrekt), still aligned with the Camarilla and seeking to uphold the nominal order of the Pyramid by conventional (or other) means; the Anarch-aligned and seemingly leaderless Ipsissimus; the intersectarian House Carna (lead by Carna herself); and the returning House Goratrix, although their status is not well known. * As a display of authority over the Kindred cause against the Second Inquisition, the Camarilla has declared every Kindred not aligned with them an enemy, causing a permanent rupture in relations between themselves and the Anarch movement. The Anarchs however, after years of flagging strength and influence in Kindred politics, have received an enormous shot in the arm in numbers and leadership, given both the provocative nature of the policy enticing Kindred to the cause, as well as the walk-out of the vast remainder of the Brujah towards the sect at the Conclave of Prague, staged in solidarity with defecting clan luminary Theo Bell. * A "Gehenna War" between the Camarilla and the Sabbat is being waged in the Middle East and the disputed regions of Ukraine. The conflict begun as the majority of the Sabbat abandoned most of its domains to wage what they perceive to be a pre-emptive "crusade" against the coming Antediluvians. In response to this aggression, the Camarilla began fighting them back in order to preserve the Masquerade and to protect torpored methuselah from any Sabbat war parties who may confuse them for Antediluvians. * Elders from all Clans have been called to the Middle East by the "Beckoning" to fight in the Gehenna War. With their increasing scarcity at home, sectarian activity has became more exclusive to the younger neonates and ancillae. * The Ashirra have formed an alliance with the Camarilla out of a common interest in thwarting the Sabbat's aggression in the region. As a diplomatic outcome of this alliance, Clan Banu Haqim (formerly the Assamites) have been admitted as a member clan of the Camarilla. * Rebranding from being a disciple cult to an open religious movement, Clan Ministry (formerly the Followers of Set) have pledged their allegiance to the Anarch movement, having had their overtures towards the Camarilla spurned. * Thin-bloods and Caitiff have become much more common, the former going by the new name/title Duskborn in Anarch circles. * Clan Lasombra, by way of a large fraction loyal to the clan center (the Amici Noctis), has defected from the Sabbat to the Camarilla ( ). * Attacks against Clan Giovanni from the SI and Harbingers of Skulls, the apparent death or disappearance of Augustus Giovanni (and the unleashing of wraiths and spectres once under his control), and rumors of the Promise of 1528 coming to an end after 500 years have all led to a Family Reunion of the Giovanni, the Cappadocian remnants and infitiore, the Harbingers, the Samedi, Lamia, and Nagaraja; and the founding a new, united Clan of Death named the Hecata. Changes to Mechanics * Difficulty is determined by how many successes you have to roll. The target number is always 6 or higher on a roll. * All Disciplines are overhauled. ** Thin-bloods can learn a special Discipline called Thin-Blood Alchemy. It allows them to copy classic Disciplines or create total new effects, due to their inability to learn Disciplines the normal way. * Blood has been overhauled with new mechanics. ** The blood pool mechanic is replaced with regular checks for Hunger. Hunger Dice substitute normal dice in the dice pool, and can lead to Failures, Bestial Failures, Critical Successes, or Messy Criticals. ** Blood Potency now determines how well a vampire can use its blood. It is partly determined by Generation and age. ** People have a special Blood Resonance, depending on their emotional state (or lack thereof), which can increase the efficiency of Disciplines. * Humanity is now universal, and has been overhauled to be more granular in function based on the chosen convictions of both the player and the group, effectively superseding the need for Paths of Enlightenment. ** A player chooses between one to three personal human Convictions and creates Touchstones to represent their connection to each, and to help to mitigate Humanity-compromising Stains. By default, they must be living mortals, though a Harbinger of Ashur Hecata character possessing the Ashen Mask bloodline ability may substitute a corpse to be used for necromantic study. ** The player coterie determines Chronicle Tenets to self-define its moral and ethical values, instead of the Hierarchy of Sins of a fixed morality. If the Tenets are broken, each offending character incurs Stains, pending a Remorse test. If a Tenet is broken in the service of upholding a Conviction, the impact may be mitigated by the reduction of one Stain or more. * Damage now only has two different types: superficial or aggravated. * Officially, there are ways to have verbal arguments, which challenge Willpower rather than health, allowing more options for non-physical confrontations. Playable Clans The 5th Edition Corebook only includes seven playable Clans, with more being added through supplements. All thirteen original Clans will be given an overview in the upcoming Players Guide. *Banu Haqim, former Assamites *Brujah *Gangrel *Hecata , a amalgam of various necromantic bloodlines such as Cappadocian, Giovanni, Harbingers of Skulls, Lamiae, Nagaraja and Samedi *Lasombra *Malkavian *Nosferatu *The Ministry, the new organization of the Followers of Set *Toreador *Tremere *Ventrue Updated Disciplines At this time, Disciplines only have five levels, but most levels give two or more options for abilities to choose from. Some former Disciplines are now integrated into others as combined Disciplines known as Amalgams. Other Disciplines have been merged into one Discipline (ex: Thaumaturgy and Quietus) *Animalism *Auspex *Celerity *Dominate (includes Dementation as an Amalgam) *Fortitude *Obfuscate *Oblivion - a combination of Obtenebration and Necromancy (includes Ceremonies of Necromancy) *Potence - now featuring distinct standard abilities *Presence *Protean (includes Serpentis as an Amalgam) *Blood Sorcery - a combination of Thaumaturgy and Quietus, it also contains Rituals * Thin-Blood Alchemy - can only be learned by Thin-bloods The effectiveness of Disciplines can now be temporarily increased through the right Blood Resonance (or lack thereof, in the case of Oblivion). References Category:Vampire: The Masquerade * Category:2018 releases